Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal was born on March 6, 1972, in Newark, NJ to father, Joseph Toney, and mother, Lucille O'Neal. The scion of a prominent Newark family, Toney named his son after an Arabic expression for Little Warrior. An All-Star high school basketball player, Toney attended Seton Hall on an athletic scholarship, but his further education and adult life were derailed when he became addicted to drugs. Arrested for his part in a check-forging scheme in December 1972, Toney entered a federal prison early the next year, relinquishing custodianship of his infant son to the baby's new stepfather, Phillip Harrison. A sergeant in the Army Reserves, Harrison relocated with wife Lucille and ... Continue Bio >>